Rotation device for rock drills



Jan. 4, 1949. J. H. ANDERSON ROTATION DEVICE FOR ROCK DRILLS Filed March 28, 1947 INVENTOR gameslllnderon Has ATTORNEY 1 Patented Jan. 4, 1949 l .Y

2,457,969v ao'rA'rIoN nEvicE'roa noon parus James H. Anderson, Easton, Pa.. assigner to Ingersoll-Rand Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 28, 1947, Serial No. 737,893

This invention relatesV tov a rotation device for rock drills of the type in which the working implement and the piston actuating it are capable of free reciprocatory movement with respect to each other.

More particularly, the invention relates to a rotation device adapted to'eiect a step-by-step rotary movement of the working implement between the blows of the hammer piston, and an object of the invention is to assure a free action of the hammer piston so that it will be 11nhampered by the drag of the rotating parts of the drilling mechanism.

Another object is to equip the rock 'drill with a powerful rotation device which may be of. rugged construction and positive in action.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawing accompanying this specification and in which similar referencenurnerals refer to similar parts,

Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, of a rock drill equipped with rotation mechanism constructed in accordance with the practice of the invention, and

Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are transverse views taken through Figure 1 on the lines 2 2, 3 3, 4 4 and 5 5, respectively.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 2B designates a rock drill comprising, as casing parts, a cylinder 2l and a front head 22 which may be secured together by bolts 23.

s claims. (ci. 121-7) within the cyunder is a piston chamber 24 having exhaust passages 25 and 26 for conveying exhaust fluid from the front and rear ends, respectively, of the piston chamber. The passages 25 and 2B are controlled by a hammer piston 21 reciprocable ln the piston chamber 24 and actuated by pressure fluid conveyed into the rear and front ends of the piston chamber by inlet passages 28 and 29. The inlet passages are controlled by suitable valve mechanism only the chest 30 of which is shown at the rearward end of the piston chamber 24.v

The hammer piston 21 is of the differential type and has a plain cylindrical stem 3| slidable in a bushing 32 in the front end of the piston chamber 24, and in the portion of the cylinder lying immediately forwardly of the bushing 32 is an anvil block 33 for transmitting the blows of the hammer piston to the shank of a working implement 34. The working implement is shown as being of hexagonal shape and its shank lies in a similarly shaped bore 35 of a chuck 35 which is journaled at its iront end in the forward end 4of the front head 22.' The rearward portion of the chuck 36 is rotatable within the body portion 31 of an oscillatory member 38 the rearward end of which is rotatable in a plate 39 clamped between thecylinder 2| and the front head 22.

Near the forward end of the member 38 is an external ilange 40 that bears with its peripheral surfaceA against the inner surface of the front head 22, and on the portion of the member 38 lying between the flange 40 and the plate 39 are radially extending varies 4| that bear with their outer edges 42 against the inner surface 43 of a sleeve 44 in the front head 22. The sleeve 44 has an external ilange 45, at its rearward end, that is clamped between the front head 22 and the plate 39 for holding the sleeve stationary.

On the inner surface of the sleeve 44 are radially extending wings 46 that lie between the vanes 4| and engage, with their. inner edges 41, the periphery of the member 38 to dene: pressure chambers 4B for the vanes. The plate 39 and the flange 40 constitute closures for the ends of the pressure chambers 48, and in the walls of the front head 22 and the sleeve 44 are exhaust ports 49 that lead from the intermediate portions of the pressure chambers and are controlled by the vanes 4|. v The member 38 is oscillated bythe fluid discharged from the piston chamber 24. Such uid passes from the exhaust passages 25 and 26 into annular grooves 5|! and 5|, respectively, in the plate 39, and the grooves 50 and 5| communicate with the opposed ends of the pressure chambers 4 48 through ports 52 and 53, respectively.

The means serving to transmit movement from the member 38 to the chuck 35 for rotating the working implement 34 in step-by-step fashion comprises a pair of pawls 54 having trunnions 55 that are journaled in the chuck 35 adjacent the front end of the member 38. The pawls 54 are swung outwardly by spring-pressed plungers 56 for engagement with the teeth 51 of a ratchet ring 58 encircling the chuck and having clutch members 59 for interlocking engagement with similar clutch members 6U on the front end of the flange 40.

In the operation of the device, and when the piston is about to deliver its blow against the anvil block, the rearward end of the piston uncovers the exhaust passage 26 and the exhaust iluid from the rearward end of the piston chamber 24 then passes through the passage 26, the groove 5| and the ports 53 into the associated ends of the pressure chambers 48 and, acting against the varies 4|, will oscillate the member 3l and the ratchet ring 5I in a counterclockwise direction. as Figure l is viewed from groove 5l andthe ports 52 into the opposite ends of the pressure chambers Il and turn the member 38 and the ratchet ring in the opposite direction. This movement of the ratchet ring will cause certain of its teeth 51 to abut the ends of the pawls 54 and the chuck 36 will then turn a' partial revolution with the ratchet ring to shift the working implement to a new position for the following blow of the piston 21. During such movements of the member 38 the vanes 4l will uncover the exhaust ports l! and the fluid will then escape from the pressure chambers Il to the atmosphere.

In practice, the present invention has been found to be a highly desirable device for effecting a step-by-step rotary movement of the working implement. The rotation mechanism comprises only a few parts of simplied construction. It is positive in operation and has desirable ad. vantages that a powerful rotative force may be applied to the working implement and that the movements of the piston 21 will be unhampered by the rotation mechanism.

I claim: Y

1. In apparatus of the character described. a

casing having a piston chamber, a reciprocatory 1 pressure chambers controlled by said vanes, a

chuck rotatable within the member, a working implement in the chuck to receive the blows of the piston, and means for connecting the chuck intermittently with the said member for rotating the chuck during movement of the member in one direction.

casing having a pistoncha'mber, a reciprocatory piston therein, a fluid actuatedoscillatory memberin the casing having a plurality of radially extending vanes, a plurality of wings on the casing to cooperate with the member to denne pressure chambers for the vanes, passages in the casing for conveying all of the exhaust ilud from the piston chamber to the pressure chambers for turning the member and being controlled by the piston, atmospheric exhaust ports in the casing .for the pressure chambers controlled by said vanes, a chuck extending through the member and being rotatable with respect thereto, a working implement in the chuck to receive the blows of the piston, and means for connecting the chuck intermittently with the said member for rotating the chuck.

3. In apparatus of the character described, a casing having a piston chamber, a reciprocatory piston therein, front and rear exhaust passages in the casing for conveying all of the exhaust 2. In apparatus of the character described, a

fluid from the front and rear ends of the piston chamber and being controlled by the piston, an oscillatory member in the casing having a plurality of radially extending vanes, radially extending wings on the casing cooperating with the member to dene pressure chambers for the vanes, ports for conveying exhaust uid from the front exhaust passage to one end of each pressure chamber for turning the member in one direction, ports for conveying exhaust iluid from the rear exhaust passage to the other end of each pressure chamber for turning the member in the opposite direction, atmospheric exhaust ports in the casing for the pressure chambers controlled by said vanes, a pawl carried by the chuck, and a ratchet ring movable with the member to interlockingly engage the pawl for effecting rotation of the chuck.

JAMES H. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'E'NTS Number Name Date 593,214 Hamor Nov. 9, 1897 907,041 Hampson Dec. 15, 1908 1,009,301 Hansen Nov. 21, 1911 

